Douglas Jnr Fairbanks

Douglas Elton Ulman Fairbanks
1907 - 2000
American born New York City

Although he appeared in about a hundred movies or TV films, Douglas Elton Ulman, better known as Douglas Fairbanks Jr. never really intended to take up acting as a career. But the environment he was born into and the circumstances naturally led him to be a thespian. Noblesse oblige. The son of future silent era swashbuckling idol Douglas Fairbanks and cotton king's daughter Beth Sully, young Douglas, born in 1909, soon proved a gifted boy. And to his last day in 2000 he remained a multi-talented, hyperactive man, not content to appear in the 100 films mentioned above, far from that. Good-looking, distinguished and bright, Douglas seemed to epitomize all the qualities existing in a single person. Very sporty (like daddy!), he excelled at many sports, notably during his stay at the Military Academy in 1919 (his role in Autant-Lara's "L'athlète incomplet" illustrated these abilities, in reverse for that matter!). On the other hand he was a bright pupil, for instance at Lycéee Janson de Sailly in Paris, where he had followed his divorced mother. Very early in his life, he developed a taste for the arts as well and became an occasional but regular painter and sculptor. Of course this was not enough and, as a grown man, he showed himself active in the business field. Didn't he manage firms as varied as a mining company, a hotel group, a chain of bowling alleys, a pop corn making firm and a movie and TV company? To say nothing of his activities during World War II, during which he headed London's Douglas Voluntary Hospital (an establishment taking care of war refugees), was Roosevelt's special envoy for the Special Mission to South America in 1940 before becoming a lieutenant in the Navy (where he made his way up to captain in 1954) and being part of the Allies'landing in Sicily and Elba in 1943. Later in his life he became a committed citizen of the world, garnering many a humanitarian award. A fervent Anglophile, Douglas Fairbanks Jr. was knighted in 1949 and often entertained Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip in his "The Boltons" London mansion. Quite an impressive curriculum vitae, but let's not forget... movies! Starting at the tender age of of seven in the shadow of his father he was signed at the almost as tender age of fourteen by Paramount's William Elliott. He debuted in 1923's "Stephen steps out" but the film flopped and his career stagnated despite a critically acclaimed role in "Stella Dallas" in 1925. Things really picked up when he married Lucille Le Sueur, a young starlet who was to become no less than...Joan Crawford. The young couple became the toast of the town (one "Screen Snapshots" episode echoes this sudden glory) and good parts and success followed, like the villains of "Little Caesar" and "The Prisoner of Zenda" or more debonair characters in slapstick comedies or adventure yarns. Anyway the thirties was a fruitful period for Douglas who made a point of never imitating his father. After the War, his star waned and, despite a moving part in "Ghost Story" (1981), he did not appear in a major movie. Now a legend himself, Douglas Fairbanks left this world with the satisfaction of having lived up to the Fairbanks name at the end of a life nobody could call "wasted". Spouse Vera Shelton (30 May 1991 - 7 May 2000) (his death), Mary Lee Eppling (22 April 1939 - 1988) (her death) 3 daughters, Joan Crawford
(3 June 1929 - 12 May 1933) (divorced).

"The Dame Edna Experience" (1989) , "B.L. Stryker"(1989) , Strong Medicine (1986) , Ghost Story (1981) , "The Love Boat" (1981) , The Hostage Tower (1980) , Kingdom of Gifts (1978) ,The Art of Film (1976) , The Crooked Hearts (1972) , "The Legend of Robin Hood" (1968) ,Red and Blue (1967) , "ABC Stage 67" (1966) , "The Bruce Forsyth Show"(1966) , "Dr. Kildare" (1964) , "The United States Steel Hour" (1963) , "The DuPont Show of the Week" (1962) , "Route 66" (1962) , "Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., Presents"(1956) , Faccia da mascalzone (1955) , The Last Moment (1954) , Destination Milan (1954) , Thought to Kill (1954) , The Red Dress (1954) , Three's Company (1954) , The Genie (1953) , The Triangle (1953) , "Sure As Fate" (1951) , Mister Drake's Duck (1951) , "Pulitzer Prize Playhouse" (1950) , "Your Show of Shows" (1950), State Secret (1950) , The Fighting O'Flynn (1949) , That Lady in Ermine (1948) , The Exile (1947) , Sinbad the Sailor (1947) , The Corsican Brothers (1941) , Angels Over Broadway (1940) , Safari (1940) , Green Hell (1940) , Rulers of the Sea (1939) , The Sun Never Sets (1939) , Gunga Din (1939) , The Young in Heart (1938) , Having Wonderful Time (1938) , The Rage of Paris (1938) , Joy of Living (1938) , The Prisoner of Zenda (1937) , Jump for Glory (1937) , Accused (1936) , The Amateur Gentleman (1936) , Man of the Moment (1935) , Mimi (1935) , Success at Any Price (1934) , The Rise of Catherine the Great (1934) , Captured! (1933) , Morning Glory (1933) , The Narrow Corner (1933) , The Life of Jimmy Dolan (1933) , Parachute Jumper (1933) , Scarlet Dawn (1932) , Love Is a Racket (1932) , It's Tough to Be Famous (1932) , Union Depot (1932) , Athlète incomplet, L' (1932) , I Like Your Nerve (1931) , Chances (1931) , Aviateur, L' (1931) , Little Caesar (1931) , One Night at Susie's (1930) , Outward Bound (1930) , The Way of All Men (1930) , Little Accident (1930) , The Dawn Patrol (1930) , Loose Ankles (1930) , Party Girl (1930) , The Show of Shows (1929) , The Forward Pass (1929) , The Careless Age (1929) , Fast Life (1929) , Our Modern Maidens (1929) , The Jazz Age (1929) , A Woman of Affairs (1928) , The Barker (1928) , The Power of the Press (1928) , The Toilers (1928) , Modern Mothers (1928), Dead Man's Curve (1928) , A Texas Steer (1927) , Is Zat So? (1927) , Women Love Diamonds (1927) , Man Bait (1927) , Broken Hearts of Hollywood (1926) , Padlocked (1926) , The American Venus (1926) , Stella Dallas (1925) , Wild Horse Mesa (1925) , The Air Mail (1925) , Stephen Steps Out (1923) , The Three Musketeers (1921) , American Aristocracy (1916)